Kings captain Dustin Brown was sitting in the dressing room Monday morning and taking the tags off his new gear, getting to the task a little later than usual.

“I didn’t get that far,” he said. “Is that good or bad?”

He fell far behind schedule, having left the ice early on Day 1 of training camp (Sept. 12) because of an injured hamstring. Monday was his first time on the ice since opening day and he went through a brief session by himself under the direction of assistant coach Davis Payne.

Now Brown is racing the calendar to get ready for the season opener.

“I think they’re being cautious. I’ll be good to go,” he said.

The Kings open the regular season Oct. 3 at Minnesota. They have three exhibition games remaining, including Tuesday night at Staples Center against the Ducks. Defenseman Willie Mitchell will play, making it his first game back at Staples Center since the Kings won the Stanley Cup.

Regarding Brown, Kings Coach Darryl Sutter sounded a cautionary note. It’s unclear when they will be able to get Brown into an exhibition game.

“We don’t know," Sutter said. "Today is the first day he skated. He’s a player really behind the eight-ball. He's skated one day since the start of camp.

"He's not a guy that can just jump into a game. So if he doesn't get any exhibition games, I'd say it's highly unlikely that you've got a player that's ready for the season."